Victoria Alonso Appears in Producers Guild of America’s “Pay It Forward” PSA

Posted on February 27, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Victoria Alonso is paying it forward…

The 58-year-old Argentine film producer, who formerly served as president of physical and post-production, visual effects and animation at Marvel Studios, appears in the Producers Guild of America’s “Pay It Forward” PSA.

Launched during the Producers Guild Awards, the public service announcement features a group of producers discussing producing.

“I’d say it starts with a feeling,” says Alonso.

Other producers featured in the video include Tommy Oliver, James Lopez, Taja Perkins, Ian Cooper, Kyle Wilson, Gary Goetzman, Linda Morel, Sharon Lopez, Jessica Elbaum and Christine Oh.

They take turns talking about all the obstacles they have to go through to make a production happen, like directors asking for a Black Hawk but not specifying if they meant the helicopter or the bird. Wilson says he ended up booking both.

In one funny moment in the clip, Perkins questions the balance between her social and work life. “Am I in the office doing cost reports at 11 on a Friday night because I’m single, or am I single because I’m in the office doing cost reports at 11 p.m. on a Friday night?” she asks.

The clip transitions to Alonso being one of the presenters at an elementary school for Career Day, with the teacher telling her she had gone over her allotted time.

One of the students then notes what being a producer entails, ending up inspired to become one someday.

“You’re telling me, you do all the work, the director gets all the credit, the actors get all the money, and you get all the blame?” the student says to Alonso, who is standing in front of the classroom. “You’re up all night, away from your families, sometimes for months at a time, toiling away for years with zero guarantee that any of these projects will connect with an audience or stand the test of time. And to top it all off, most people mistakenly think you’re actually part of the AMPTP. Is that what I’m hearing?”

The former Marvel VFX chief replies, “That is exactly right,” to which the little girl, played by Caterina Do asks, “Where do I sign up?”

Anjelah Johnson-Reyes to Serve as Presenter at This Year’s PGA Awards

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Anjelah Johnson-Reyes is headed to the PGA Awards…

The Producers Guild of America has revealed the presenters lineup for the 34th annual PGA Awards, to be held on Saturday at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, with the 40-year-old half-Mexican American actress/comedian making the list.

In addition to Johnson-Reyes, other notable celebrities set to take the stage to present throughout the evening include Angela Bassett, Austin Butler, Billy Eichner, Bob Odenkirk, Brendan Fraser, Cate Blanchett, Danielle Deadwyler, Dave Burd, Diego Luna, Eugenio Derbez, Hannah Einbinder, Hong Chau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jay Ellis, Kate Hudson, Ke Huy Quan, Kerry Condon, Leslie Odom, Jr., Michelle Williams, Michelle Yeoh, Mo Amer, Monica Barbaro, Nicole Byer, Paul Dano, Robert Rodriguez, Ron Howard, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sandra Oh, Sherry Lansing and Stephanie Hsu.

The PGA Awards celebrate the producers behind the best films, television series, and new media projects of the year.

Widely known as a reliable bellwether for the Best Picture category at the Oscars, the PGA has nominated Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans, Glass Onion: Knives Out Mystery, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick and The Whale for its Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures Award.

The 2023 Producers Guild of America Awards is produced by Anchor Street Collective for the Producers Guild of America.

Guillermo del Toro Earns PGA Awards Nomination for “The Shape of Water”

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

The recognition for Guillermo del Toro’s latest monster-piece continues…

The Producers Guild of America has announced its film and television nominees for the 29th annual PGA Awards, with the 53-year Mexican filmmaker earning a nod for his critically acclaimed film The Shape of Water.

For the first time, a tie in the voting means 11 films are vying for the marquee Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures, rather than the usual 10.

In addition to del Toro’s The Shape of Water, the nominees include The Big Sick, Call Me by Your Name, Dunkirk, Get Out, I, Tonya, Lady Bird, Molly’s Game, The Post, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Wonder Woman.

The PGA Awards will be handed out on January 20 at the Beverly Hilton.

Here are the nominees for the 29th annual PGA Awards, co-chaired Donald De Line and Amy Pascal:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures:

The Big Sick  Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel
Call Me By Your Name  Producers: Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Marco Morabito
Dunkirk Producers: Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan
Get Out Producers: Sean McKittrick & Edward H. Hamm, Jr., Jason Blum, Jordan Peele
I, Tonya  Producers: Bryan Unkeless, Steven Rogers, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley
Lady Bird Producers: Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill
Molly’s Game Producers: Mark Gordon, Amy Pascal, Matt Jackson
The Post  Producers: Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger
The Shape Of Water  Producers: Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri  Producers: Graham Broadbent & Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh
Wonder Woman  Producers: Charles Roven & Richard Suckle, Zack Snyder & Deborah Snyder

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:

The Boss Baby  Producer: Ramsey Naito
Coco  Producer: Darla K. Anderson
Despicable Me 3  Producers: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy
Ferdinand  Producers: Lori Forte, Bruce Anderson
The Lego Batman Movie  Producers: Dan Lin, Phil Lord & Christopher Miller

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures:
Chasing Coral  Producers: Jeff Orlowski, Larissa Rhodes
City of Ghosts  Producer: Matthew Heineman
Cries from Syria  Producers: Evgeny Afineevsky, Den Tolmor, Aaron I. Butler
Earth: One Amazing Day  Producer: Stephen McDonogh
Jane (This film is still in the process of being vetted for producer eligibility this year.)
Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower  (This film is still in the process of being vetted for producer eligibility this year.)
The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee  Producers: Teddy Kunhardt, George Kunhardt

The producers of the programs in the following six categories are in the process of being vetted for awards eligibility this year, and the winners will be recognized at the official ceremony on January 20.

The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama:

Big Little Lies (Season 1)
The Crown (Season 2)
Game of Thrones (Season 7)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Season 1)
Stranger Things (Season 2)

The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy:

Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 9)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 1)
Master of None (Season 2)
Silicon Valley (Season 4)
Veep (Season 6)

The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television:
The Long-Form Television category encompasses both movies of the week and limited series.

Black Mirror (Season 4)
Fargo (Season 3)
FEUD: Bette and Joan (Season 1)
Sherlock: The Lying Detective
The Wizard of Lies

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television:

30 for 30 (Season 8)
60 Minutes (Season 50)
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (Season 9, Season 10)
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (Season 1, Season 2)
Spielberg

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television:

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (Season 2)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Season 15)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Season 4)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Season 3)
Saturday Night Live (Season 43)

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Competition Television:

The Amazing Race (Season 29)
American Ninja Warrior (Season 9)
Lip Sync Battle (Season 3)
Top Chef (Season 14)
The Voice (Season 12, Season 13)

The Award for Outstanding Short-Form Program:

Better Call Saul’s Los Pollos Hermanos Employee Training (Season 1)
Carpool Karaoke (Season 1)
Humans of New York: The Series (Season 1)
National Endowment for the Arts: United States of Arts (Season 3)
Viceland at the Women’s March (Season 1)

The Award for Outstanding Sports Program:

All or Nothing: A Season with the Los Angeles Rams (Season 2)
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Season 12)
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (Season 23)
SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt (Season 3)
VICE World of Sports (Season 2)

The Award for Outstanding Children’s Program:

Doc McStuffins (Season 4)
Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2017
School of Rock (Season 3)
Sesame Street (Season 47)
SpongeBob SquarePants (Season 10, Season 11)

González Iñárritu Wins Top Prize at the Directors Guild of America Awards

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Alejandro González Iñárritu is feeling peer pleasure…

The 51-year-old Mexican filmmaker took home the top prize for helming Birdman at the Directors Guild of America’s DGA Awards ceremony on Saturday.

González Iñárritu’s win furthers the dark comedy’s status as the Best Picture frontrunner for the Academy Awards coming in two weeks. Birdman also took home prizes at the Screen Actors Guild’s SAG Awards and the Producers Guild of America’s PGA Awards.

The winner of the Directors Guild award has gone on to win the Oscar for Best Director in all but seven years since the DGA Awards have been held.

González Iñárritu’s “Birdman” Wins Big at the PGA Awards

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Alejandro González Iñárritu is flying high once again…

The 51-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s dark comedy Birdman took home the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures at the 26th annual PGA Awards in Los Angele on Sunday.

The recognition from the Producers Guild of America places the González Iñárritu-helmed film squarely in the frontrunner category for the Best Picture Academy Award.

Since 1989, those theatrical films taking the Darryl F. Zanuck award for best producer have a 75% chance of winning the top prize at the Oscars.

It’s González Iñárritu’s first win in two tries. In 2007, he received a PGA Award nod for Babel, which won Best Picture – Drama at the 2007 Golden Globes and was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.

Here’s a look at the complete list of winners:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Picture
Birdman
Producers: Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
The LEGO Movie
Producer: Dan Lin

The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama
Breaking Bad:
Producers: Melissa Bernstein, Sam Catlin, Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Mark Johnson, Stewart Lyons, Michelle MacLaren, George Mastras, Diane Mercer, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett

The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy
Orange Is The New Black:
Producers: Mark A. Burley, Sara Hess, Jenji Kohan, Gary Lennon, Neri Tannenbaum, Michael Trim, Lisa I. Vinnecour

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures
Life Itself

The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television
Fargo
Producers: Adam Bernstein, John Cameron, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Michael Frislev, Noah Hawley, Warren Littlefield, Chad Oakes, Kim Todd

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television
COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey:
Producers: Brannon Braga, Mitchell Cannold, Jason Clark, Ann Druyan, Livia Hanich, Steve Holtzman, Seth MacFarlane

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon:
Producers: Rob Crabbe, Jamie Granet Bederman, Katie Hockmeyer, Jim Juvonen, Josh Lieb, Brian McDonald, Lorne Michaels, Gavin Purcell

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Competition Television
The Voice:
Producers: Stijn Bakkers, Mark Burnett, John De Mol, Chad Hines, Lee Metzger, Audrey Morrissey, Jim Roush, Kyra Thompson, Mike Yurchuk, Amanda Zucker

The Award for Outstanding Digital Series
Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee

The Award for Outstanding Sports Program
Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel

The Award for Outstanding Children’s Program
Sesame Street

Cuarón Receives Digital Visionary Award from the Producers Guild of America

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s yet another award for Alfonso Cuarón and his gravity-defying project…

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker and his visual-effects company Framestore were feted at the Producers Guild of America’s Digital Visionaries awards, which recognize notable organizations and the people behind them for using technology to advance the ways stories are told.

Cuarón and Framestone were honoring “for pushing visual effects to new levels” with their Oscar-winning work on the feature film Gravity.

“These are the top Hollywood people who are ultra-forward thinking in their vision of telling stories,” said Marc Scarpa, co-chair with Shawn Gold of the committee selecting the nine award winners. “We’re about pushing the medium forward.”

Cuarón Wins First-Ever Producers Guild of America Award

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón has made history at the Producers Guild of America Awards…

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker not only picked up the first PGA Award of his career, but Cuarón is also part of a historic tie.

For the first time in its 25-year history, the Producers Guild of America bestowed its top prize on two films during Sunday’s awards ceremony.

Cuarón’s 3D sci-fi thriller Gravity and Steve McQueen‘s historical epic 12 Years a Slave both won the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for outstanding producer of theatrical motion pictures at the show, which took place at the Beverly Hilton.

For the past six years, every feature film chosen by the Producers Guild for its top honor has gone on to be named the best picture at the Academy Awards.

Even though a tie at the Oscars is unlikely, the first-time PGA split keeps the Academy Awards race wide open in one of the tightest three-way battles in years. It may have been shut out by the producers, but David O. Russell‘s con caper American Hustle is also still very much in the running following a week of big showings at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

In the television categories, AMC‘s Breaking Bad won for best episodic drama, while ABC‘s Modern Family scored the win for best episodic comedy. HBO‘s Behind the Candelabra won in the longform category.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures (TIE):
Gravity
12 Years a Slave

Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures:
We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:
Frozen

David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Longform Television (TV Movies and Miniseries):
Behind the Candelabra

Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama:
Breaking Bad

Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy:
Modern Family

Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television:
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

Outstanding Producer of Competition Television:
The Voice

Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television:
The Colbert Report

Outstanding Sports Program:
SportsCenter

Outstanding Children’s Program:
Sesame Street

Outstanding Digital Series:
Wired: What’s Inside

Louis C.K. Earns Second Consecutive TCA Award…

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

It’s like a case of déjà vu for Louis C.K.

The 45-year-old Mexican American stand-up comedian and actor picked up his second consecutive Television Critics Association Award on Saturday.

Louis C.K. once again picked up the award for Individual Achievement in Comedy for his Emmy-winning FX series Louie.

It’s the latest award for Louis C.K., who recently received a remarkable nine Emmy nominations.

This year alone he’s claimed a Producers Guild of America Digital V.I.P. Award, a Peabody Award and a Writers Guild Award. And the comedian was named one of Time magazine’s100 Influentials last year.

Here’s a look at this years TCA Award winners:

Individual Achievement in Drama:
Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, BBC America)

Individual Achievement in Comedy: Louis C.K. (Louie, FX)  

Outstanding Achievement in News and Information:
The Central Park Five (PBS)  

Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming:
Shark Tank (ABC)  

Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming:
Bunheads (ABC Family)  

Outstanding New Program:
The Americans (FX)  

Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials:
Behind the Candelabra (HBO)  

Outstanding Achievement in Drama:
Game of Thrones (HBO)  

Outstanding Achievement in Comedy:
(Tie) The Big Bang Theory (CBS) and Parks and Recreation (NBC).  

Career Achievement Award:
Barbara Walters (ABC)  

Heritage Award:
All in the Family (CBS)  

Program of the Year:
Breaking Bad (AMC)

Louis C.K. Honored at the Producers Guild of America Digital V.I.P. Awards

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Louis C.K. is receiving kudos for his work in the digital world…

The 45-year-old Mexican-American stand-up comedian/actor has been honored by the Producers Guild of America for his contributions to the advancement of digital entertainment and storytelling in the past year.

Louis C.K., who will be starring in a new stand-up comedy special for HBO soon, received the award last night at the inaugural Digital V.I.P. Awards (Visionaries, Innovators and Producers) at the Bel Air home of entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Louis C.K., who earned a Peabody Award last week, was recognized in the Producers category, for having created content whose reach, execution and influence has advanced the audience experience. He was heralded for his FX series Louie and re-engineering the role of artist in entertainment distribution.

Other honorees include Jim Carrey, Conan O’Brien and Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Bill Westenhofer.

“Searching for Sugar Man” Earns Directors Guild Award

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like Searching for Sugar Man has the momentum heading into the final Oscar stretch…

The critically acclaimed documentary about Mexican American musician Sixto Rodriguez, who has been dubbed “the greatest rock star who never was,” earned the film’s helmer Malik Bendjelloul his first DGA Award from the Directors Guild of America.

Bendjelloul picked up the award during the 65th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards dinner on Saturday night at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles.

It’s the latest award for Searching for Sugar Man, which is looking like an Oscar front-runner in its category. The film had previously won a Critics Choice award and Producers Guild of America award.

In addition, the film has resulted in what’s shaping up to be the comeback of the century, with the film’s subject Rodriguez now in high demand. He’s slated to perform at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and other music festivals this year.

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